COMPUTER GEEK: HELP!!!!!!!

Blog Problem – Techno Dinosaur?

If you heard many bad words from the lasermed household this last weekend, it was me.  I was unable to “log on” to the blog to post anything. 

I have no idea what the problem is.  I will see if computer geek can come show me what my problem is.  I’m sure I did something stupid. 

I will have to post from the office until it gets straightened out.

COMPUTER GEEK:  HELP!!!!!!!

Follow up: Big Companies Behaving Badly

Or: Comcast, Where Are You?

Several weeks ago, I posted a rant about Comcast and the difficulty I was having with their customer service department.  I received a reply from someone apparently in the national office.

It took me a while to get back to this person. 

Evidently using the e-mail address he left me gets the same sort of answers that I got when I called my local Comcast office. 

NONE!

It has been a week. 

Comcast, Where Are You?

That might work. 

Leave me an address I can use.

Old People and Technology

(sent to me from a friend – enjoy your laugh)

I was in a cafe recently when I suddenly realized I desperately needed to fart. The music was really loud so I timed my fart with the beat of the music. After a couple of songs I started to feel better. I finished my coffee and noticed that everyone was staring at me.

And suddenly I remembered I was listening to my iPod -- and how was your day?

That's what happens when old people start using technology!

Blog Notes I

Just a few notes on my blog:

February was interesting.  I posted something I borrowed from a friend, who got it from Facebook, and my blog went viral!  I had been getting 40-60 visitors per day.  One day I had over 5000.  I started the blog in August, 2011.  I had about 8000 visitors until mid February.  Now I have over 30,000.  I hope some of those visitors liked what they read and continue to visit. 

I wrote a post about how many different countries visitors had come from on February 4.  There were then just over 40 countries.  Today we hit 80 countries.  If you don’t see your country’s name on the side, I missed it.  Put it in the comments and I will add it. 

I have learned a lot of geography.  Réunion (which only got the little accent because I copied it from Wikipedia) is the newest country that I added to my list.  I have had to look up a lot of countries to see where they are.  [As I was checking before posting, someone from Dominica came to visit.  Hello!]

I have finally found all of the articles on Yahoo! from Dr. Maryellen Smith.  It has been interesting.  Yahoo! has been redoing its site this month.  The last article is: Multiple Pregnancy – the Roller Coaster of Twins, Triplets or More:

http://shine.yahoo.com/multiple-pregnancy-roller-coaster-twins-triplets-more.html

I have to admit that the format of the page (see upper right) that has all the articles on it is a bit crazy.  I may have to copy it to word and redo the whole thing.   I will continue to add articles as I write them.

I am getting somewhat better technologically.  Not great yet.  I am still in the stone ages.  Thanks for hanging in there with me.    

Heart Month

Since February is heart month, I thought I would post a few:

Don’t ask why they are arranged the way they are.  I don’t know, either.

Worth a Read

My friend who writes at Labor and Deliverance has stated things well.  This post is definitely worth a read:
http://laboranddeliverance.blogspot.com/2012/02/i-really-did-not-want-to-be-politcal.html?showComment=1329773356432#c3915780550301889625
It is a discussion of prenatal testing from the side of a practicing obstetrician. 

Testing is for information.  What an individual patient and her doctor do with that information is between them.  We got the government out of the examination room years ago.  Or did we?

Techno – Dino 7 – I’m learning

My friend the Computer Geek was impressed with my Christmas post.  Not as much as I was, but he was impressed.  He did ask why he didn’t have a nickname or a place on the sidebar. 

Sooooo, today I decided to put Computer Geek and Yearbook Gal on my sidebar.  Unfortunately, they refused to appear in bold print.  Don’t ask me why. 

I, however, figured out (all by myself, mind you) how to go in and modify the html to make it bold.

If you don’t speak computer, I modified the language behind the program to get the print to be heavier like this because the little button that’s supposed to do that wouldn’t work properly. 

How cool.  Who knows what I’ll do next.

It’s all because Computer Geek showed me how to add those Amazon banners so you can order from Amazon right from my blog.  It took me forever to figure them out.  Just click on them, and you’re there!  Neat-o?

Maybe I’ll learn to do attachments to my e-mail next?

Laser

Techno-Dinosaur 6 – Christmas Post

I worked really hard on my Christmas post.  I figured out how to get my word processing program to translate “Merry Christmas” into a bunch of languages.  I was so proud of myself.

Then the column thingie wouldn’t work and I had to redo the entire page.  I wanted all of it on one page.

Then I found out that clip-art won’t post on the blog.  At least I can’t get it to (yet – oh, Adam……)

So I had to find my old Photobucket account, get a new password, remember how to download and upload pictures…. Did you notice the ones with motion?  I’m particularly proud of them.

I accidently put the same picture under two different languages.  I can’t have that.  I guess I have a little OCD.  So I inserted the one I intended to have there.  The old one didn’t come off.  OMG!!!!  Don’t panic!  Which button do I push now?

This one post has taken me the better part of a week, off and on.   I’m sure there are 6 or 8 hours of work in it.  I learned stuff, thank goodness.  I’m glad it has been a little slow in the office, or I would still be working on it. 

Merry Christmas

Medical Software Company SNAFU

This is the time of year that I bought my Electronic Medical Record Software.  Every year you have to pay for “support”.  This costs almost half as much as the software cost when purchased new.  I’m sure that it will increase in price annually.  The support people are available if I have any problems.  Like the cable company is available if you have a problem with your cable.  Enough said? 

I was thinking it was time to pay the support bill.  The other day I checked my online banking, and – SURPRISE!!!! – they had taken their money out of my checking account.  There was no warning.  No: “Dear Dr. Lasermed – next week we are going to take a huge chunk of money out of your checking account.”  Nothing.  I got an e-mail the day they took the money.

I generally don’t authorize anyone to take things out of my accounts without letting me know first.  I don’t have credit cards.  I only have debit cards.

I called the company.  They said “it’s in your contract”.  The contract is 8 pages of little tiny legal printing.  They didn’t say that they warned me a year ago.  They also said they assumed that the card was a credit card. 

I spoke with the nice people at my bank.  They have dealt with this problem before.  If I deposited cash before closing, there wouldn’t be a problem.  I could write a letter to the company so they didn’t do that again.  Check and check.  Blood pressure is beginning to come down. 

It’s amazing how the only times I ever have problems with my account are when some business takes something they are not authorized to do.  The woman at the software company said “THEIR SOFTWARE IS NOT SET UP TO SEND NOTIFICATION BEFORE THEY DO ANY BILLING”.  I want to know why they can’t fix their software, since that’s what they do, write software?  She really didn’t know. 

Techno Dinosaur 5 Web based documents

I learned something new today. This may actually increase the amount of writing that I do. No groaning out there. I heard that.

My son showed me how to make documents on the internet. This means I can start something at home and finish it at work, or the other way around. The only problem I have is that I have no idea how this will look on the blog.

It’s great to have teenagers who learn stuff at school, then come home and teach their technologically challenged parents. When you tell Three Speed, make sure to tell him who you are, so I can find out who read the blog and told him. Make a point to tell him to tell me, because he forgets.

Who knows what I’ll learn next? Perhaps how to get my electronic medical record to write letters? I still can’t figure that one out!

Techno-Dino 5 - An Anthem

One of my doctor friends couldn’t figure out how to copy a web site so you could just click on it.  It took me quite some instruction to learn to do the same thing when I learned.  My children, of course trained me.  They gave me lots of looks like “She’s really never going to get this!”

I told my friend that I was a techno dinosaur.  She suggested I look up the following video from Trout Fishing in America:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=synDS-IJb1g       (When I was a Dinosaur)

I also enjoyed a couple of others on that same site by the same group.

This one is for all my coffee loving friends:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-ia13f72-4&feature=related      All I Want is a Proper Cup of Coffee

This is for the Moms and Dads and Pediatricians out there:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnplhUelCZg&feature=related  I Think I’ll Need a Band-Aid

Enjoy!

Techno – Dino 3

GO EAGLES!!!!!!

It took 3 teenagers this time!

Yesterday we finally added Amazon advertising to this blog. 

It took three teenagers and a week to get it done.

 I tried and tried.  Tall Guy gave it a shot.  Three Speed looked at it too. 

We finally had to bring in the big guns.

Thank you, Adam.  I hope it continues to work.

This one is for the senior class.  GO, EAGLES!!!!

Techno – Dinosaur, Part 2

Setting up the Blog

I am about ready to take a hammer to my computer.

I love writing.  I’m having fun getting my frustrations out on this blog.  However, the whole issue of age has quickly become apparent.  I really did NOT grow up in the computer era.  When I was born, the danged things were as big as a whole room.  When I was in high school, we learned to punch cards.  Do you see my issue?

I have no idea what a RSS feed is.  I don’t know if I have accidently added or subtracted something often until it is too late.  My children aren’t available 24/7 to answer my questions.  You have to know where to go on the computer to get the answers you need, and how to ask the questions you need answers for.  Those of  us who are old people don’t necessarily know these things.

I’m just the writer.  I can put a sentence together.  I’m pretty good at taking apart and putting together a human body.  But ask me to fix a computer problem, and I’m almost guaranteed to get a headache.  I even take several medicines to prevent that.  They are not helping.

I am grateful for things like spell check.  I really love that feature.  I love the back space to get rid of mistakes.  I can touch type over 70 words per minute on this danged machine. 

However, I am trying to add some photos to this thing, and you would think I was trying to solve some complicated physics problem.  I never understood physics.   In almost a month, I still have not succeeded.  You may or may not ever get pictures.   Trying to link another web site (http://healthcareroundup.com/) to this one – they say “just add the logo” like it’s a piece of cake – has raised my blood pressure and given me “excess stomach acid”.  

Pretty soon I will be over in the corner babbling like a small child.  I want my blankie! 

Techno – ignorance, the dinosaur version

I admit that I am a dinosaur in a lot of ways.  Having teenagers really emphasizes this.

When my children were little, they thought I knew everything.  It was amazing.  Now, when anything goes wrong with my electronics, I have to ask them.  It has become very humbling.

Yesterday, the mouse for my computer stopped working.  Usually this is a simple fix.  I just have Mr. Impatient bring me a new battery. 

No luck.

 I tried unplugging the USB thingie and putting it in another port.  Nope.

I tried pushing the reset button on the bottom of the mouse.  Nope.

I even resorted to rebooting the computer.  Nope.  By now I’ve spent 20 minutes, and I’m starting to say “bad words” under my breath.

Soooo…..I broke down and called for one of my computer geek kids.  We’re still discussing his blog name.  For today we’ll call him Three Speed. 

Anyway, it took him about 45 seconds to find a reset button on the USB stick, press it and fix the mouse.

Yup, I’m a dinosaur. 

I love my children.

And:  You learn something new every day.